Your Android phone has a free screen-time tracker hiding in Settings

Your Android phone probably has a built-in screen-time tracker that you have never opened. It is called Digital Wellbeing, and it usually has no icon on the home screen. It sits inside Settings, where mainly the curious find it. Google's version has been installed over 10 billion times.

What it shows you

Digital Wellbeing is a free app from Google. Once opened, it gives you a daily chart of your phone habits. The chart covers your screen time, how often you unlock the phone, how many notifications you got and which apps you used most.

You can tap any app to see exactly how long you have spent in it today. The app has 1.49 million reviews and a 4.1-star rating on the Google Play Store.

Tools to cut back

The app does more than count. You can set a timer for a single app to cap how long you use it each day. When time runs out, the app icon dims and the app closes for the day. Timers reset at midnight. You can also set a timer for a whole group of apps, such as social media.

• Bedtime mode turns the screen gray and turns on Do Not Disturb on a schedule.
• Focus mode pauses distracting apps with one tap and blocks their notifications.

If you have a Samsung or Huawei phone

Not every Android phone uses Google's app. Samsung Galaxy phones do not ship with it, but they include their own version. Huawei does the same. Google requires phone makers to put screen-time and parental-control tools at the top level of Settings. It lets them choose Google's app or their own. The features are generally similar, with some extras.

Samsung's version compares your time on games, social media, productivity apps and finance apps. It can also track how much you use the phone while driving or walking.

Samsung also offers a Work mode, set up through Modes and Routines. It puts the phone on vibrate only and turns on power saving. You can start it automatically at set times and on chosen days, or when you open an app such as your company's message tool. It can also start when you arrive at the office, but GPS must be on for that. Other modes cover the theater, driving, exercising, relaxing and gaming, and you can create your own.

What to do

Open Settings and look for Digital Wellbeing, or your phone maker's equivalent. Check your real numbers first. Then pick one app that eats your time and try a daily timer on it.